Obama applauds Nashville schools in White House speech

7:44 PM,
Jan. 10, 2014

Written by

Joey Garrison
| The Tennessean

President Barack Obama, in a White House speech Thursday that highlighted communities that have collectively taken on big social challenges, applauded Nashville and its public schools.

That kind of prestige might seem unlikely for a school district that has long struggled with benchmarks on academic achievement, but the president pointed to two areas Metro officials have showcased increasingly in recent years.

"In Nashville, they've redesigned high schools and boosted graduation rates by almost 20 percent over the past 12 years," Obama said. He also singled out Harlem, Cincinnati ...